Browns place DT Daniel Ekuale on injured reserve

The Cleveland Browns placed defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale on injured reserve on Friday with a calf injury.

In a corresponding transaction, the club activated tight end Stephen Carlson from the practice squad.

An undrafted free agent out of Princeton, the 6-foot-4 and 240-pound Carlson has spent the season so far on the practice squad. During his collegiate career he had 125 receptions for 1,632 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Carlson also fills a hole at tight end on Sunday against the Denver Broncos as the Browns have ruled out tight end Pharaoh Brown with a concussion. In addition to Brown, Cleveland will experience its weekly injury hole in the secondary as safety Damarious Randall is out for the second consecutive week with a hamstring injury, and cornerback Eric Murray is out after having arthroscopic surgery for a knee injury suffered in practice on Wednesday.

Murray is coming off a game where he played 50 defensive snaps against the New England Patriots and posted four tackles and sacked quarterback Tom Brady.

Before he was ruled out for the game, defensive coordinator Steve Wilks highlighted Murray’s versatility, according to clevelandbrowns.com:

“He has the skill set from the standpoint of playing a little bit of corner before moving to safety. That really entails that position when you talk about being able to stop the run as a safety, the coverage skills of a corner and being able to blitz. He encompasses all of that. I thought his physicality is something I was very intrigued with, which you have to have to play that position.”

As for Ekuale, it is hard to say if the Browns will miss him or not. A member of the backup defensive line rotation that has disappointed all year, Ekuale played 115 snaps in the first seven games, from a high of 22 against the San Francisco 49ers to a low of nine against the Tennessee Titans, and posted three tackles.